


The Gilded Trap

by denizen57



Category: Drama - Fandom, K-Drama - Fandom, 치즈인더트랩 | Cheese in the Trap
Genre: F/M, One-Shot, Romance, Slice of Life, young adult
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2018-12-27 04:11:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12073269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denizen57/pseuds/denizen57
Summary: What happens when Seol visits Sunbae's pad for the first time ;)





	1. Chapter 1

 

Seol felt a rush of relief as she saw the outline of Jeong's building come into view. Even the heavy deluge limiting her vision and turning all around them into watercolor paintings couldn't soften the imposing fifty-story, glass-overlaid building Jung called home. As he swiped them into the building, she absently remembered a similar sequence at a high security prison she had once seen on a procedural drama. Right now though, this gilded prison meant a refuge from the unrelenting downpour outside. She grimaced as her shoes squelched on the inlaid black marble tile in the foyer, and then giggled as Jeong's immediately mimicked hers. The now ruined suede jacket Jeong had adamantly held above her head the entire sprint from the coffee shop had done little to deflect the rain, both of them getting soaked to their very bones. But even dripping from every fiber on her body, she felt refreshed and elated. A glance at Jeong revealed an inscrutable smile on his face, and as the elevator began its gentle ascent, she marveled that even after five months of dating, she could never quite interpret his smaller gestures. His machinations she understood just fine, but the finer details of his actions still perplexed her. He turned to her with a look of concern as they stepped out of the elevator, "I've gotta get you out of those clothes" he murmured, only hearing the implication in his words a moment too late. Seol however, was more concerned with what awaited her on the other side of the reinforced brushed steel door that swung open at Jeong's touch.

Over the last five months, Jeong had become a familiar presence in her room at her parent's home, losing the stiff air that had surrounded him the first time he had entered it and sat uneasily on the edge of her bed. "Sunbae, when will I get to see your place?" she had quipped a few weeks ago. "You're welcome any time", he paused, "but I don't think your father would be thrilled." He added the last with a touch of humor in his voice, but he watched steadily for her reaction. Experience had taught him that despite being more forthcoming with her emotions, she felt trepidation with the prospect of increasing physical affection between them. It didn't escape his notice that he was always the one to initiate contact, nor that the tightness in his chest gave way to a strange feeling of warmth when he held her, or how her scent when he nuzzled her neck calmed him, or that he felt the rush of blood in his ears every time an innocuous touch turned more pressing or a clumsy step landed her close enough to feel the slender contours of her figure. Though the former feelings were novel to him, he didn't dwell on the why, he simply accepted them. The only disquiet he felt was over the possibility that Seol's unease with physical contact may have been a result of her struggle with Young-Gon, the stalker he had carelessly nudged in her direction back when such actions meant nought to him. He couldn't change the past he reasoned, but he could do something about the future.


	2. Chapter 2

 

His train of thought was broken by Seol's sharp intake. Walking down the dimly lit entrance hallway, they had found themselves in front of a Takato Yamamoto, a rare impulse purchase he had acquired during a transit in Tokyo a year ago. The muted lighting above the painting brought into sharp relief the wicked hooks piercing the flesh of a naked woman. The crimson ropes that extended from the hooks meandered up the canvas to find their root at the elegant fingers of ..... a puppeteer? His face remaining out of frame, the only clue to his nature the signet on his little finger with the scales of justice embossed on it. "You don't like it?" The incredulous look she shot him in response gave him his answer. "I don't like it myself", he admitted with a rueful grin. "Then why in the world did you buy it?" Continuing to observe the painting, the subject's tranquil reclining position, the bliss writ on her face, Seol suddenly understood. "Because ......-", "-you can't look away", Seol completed his sentence. They turned from the painting to regard each other for a long moment, a silent acknowledgement of their kindredness passing between them. Jung broke the moment saying, "I'll get you something dry to change into". As he lead her to his room, he felt a strange sense of vertigo, as if the foundations of the building had shifted, imperceptible to the naked eye but indisputable to the subconscious. All his life those he was closest to, his father, Baek In-Ho, Baek In-Ha, and those he kept at a polite distance, had failed to grasp the way he thought. Yet here was Seol, discerning his abstract musings in a moment. The wet clothes were uncomfortable but not urgent, however he felt that if he'd spent a second longer looking into her eyes, he'd have lost something to Seol, his clarity, his logic, the entirety of his soul perhaps.

  
Seol followed the broad shoulders making their way across the minimally appointed apartment. So engrossed was she, taking in the luxurious yet muted furnishings that the heavy mahogany of his bedroom door swung open before she knew it. Much about Yu Jeong's room was as one would expect of a chaebol's son, from the lofty ceilings to the gleaming steel, glass, wood, and leather surfaces, to the outright vastness of it. If Seol had to guess, her entire apartment could probably fit in it four times over. But she also glimpsed subtle personal touches that warmed the space. She turned from her quick perusal to find Yu Jeong fetching two sets of t-shirts and sweats from a drawer that had seemingly sprung from solid granite wall. "Why don't you change into these," Yu Jeong said offering one set to her. The reminder of her waterlogged condition spurred her, grabbing the garments a little too eagerly. "I'll give you a moment then" he said, the suppressed chuckle in his voice still audible as the door clicked behind him.

 


End file.
